How Meghan Markle and Prince Harry Combined Both American and British Traditions in Their Wedding Ceremony

Thousands of Americans traveled from across the pond to Windsor this weekend to see Prince Harry marry Meghan Markle—a biracial, divorced actress from Los Angeles. And fittingly, American touches were incorporated throughout the service at St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle. It was a bit of something old and something new.

As close to 2 billion people tuned in on television and these two, so clearly in love, exchanged their vows, it became apparent that the service was a true merging of both American and British traditions. Perhaps we should have known this would be the case from the beginning, though, as even the invitations were printed on British card stock, but with American ink.

After the Dean of Windsor greeted the congregation and started the ceremony, and Markle walked down the aisle—alone for part of it, in something of a bold, feminist move—wearing her Clare Waight Keller for Givenchy dress, the presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church, Michael Curry, began his sermon. With the world in so much turmoil right now, the booming address couldn’t have felt more fitting—even if at times it did seem as though he’d gone a bit rogue. He spoke of “the redemptive power of love,” quoting Martin Luther King, Jr. After he concluded, Karen Gibson and the Kingdom Choir, a gospel group based in Southeast England, sang American composer Ben E. King’s song “Stand by Me.” Both parts of the ceremony were refreshingly atypical in an Anglican church, and felt very American amid the pomp and circumstance that invariably accompanies a royal wedding in England. Still, as one would expect, the ceremony ended in a very English way with the entire crowd, and Meghan and Harry, singing the British national anthem, “God Save the Queen.”

There wasn’t a maid or matron of honor as is common in the U.S. Instead, Meghan’s BFF, Jessica Mulroney, and the Duchess of Cambridge escorted the 10 universally cute bridesmaids and page boys into the ceremony.

The British tradition—or lack thereof—that might stand out most to American viewers was the lack of the kiss at the end of the ceremony. The Church of England actually forbids the act in sacred places—which includes Windsor Castle. As a result, the newlyweds instead shared their first kiss as husband and wife on the steps of the castle, which may have been longer than Meghan—who grew up with ceremonies ending emphatically on “and now you may kiss the bride!”—wanted to wait, but gave everyone watching on TV and in the crowds outside the perfect view. And, just like at many American weddings in the South, the couple’s exit was accompanied by a gospel song. The choir broke into Etta James’s “This Little Light of Mine”—and all one could think was, “Oh, what a happy day!”